Residency Affidavit. This application is preferred when the student has lived in Washington at least 12 months before starting college or took 6 credits or less during the 12 months prior to the term.
Financially Dependent residency. If a parent, step-parent, or legal guardian lives in Washington, filing as financially dependent can be faster and easier than proving financial independence.
Requirements
Residency for tuition purposes requires these actions:
Overcome Presumption. Move to Washington state for reasons other than education*, AND
Establish a domicile. Surrender previous state documents and obtain Washington documents, including state ID (REQUIRED), within 30 days, AND
Wait 12 months* from the date of moving to Washington, AND
Meet the financially independent requirements, AND
*Students receiving the WUE/Cougar Award are presumed to be in the state for higher education purposes and may not use the time that they were receiving the WUE towards the 12 month waiting period.
If you were at least 25 years of age for the entire academic year prior to submitting the residency questionnaire, you do not need to prove financial independence unless there is evidence that you did not pay at least 51% of the estimated Cost of Attendance as described for students under 25 years of age or that someone else did pay 49% or more of the estimated cost of attendance.
You must meet all other residency criteria and must obtain all Washington state documents 11 months prior to the first day of term you are seeking residency.